24 Days and Counting...

Isaiah 40:31:

"They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles's wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint."

This is most likely my favorite passage from the Bible concerning encouragement and encouragement is what I need to complete the task I have set for myself, the Metric Villainous Viper in Asheville, NC.  I have been working to get back into shape and part of this journey is culminating in this ride with one of my brother-in-laws.  I am by no means a super athlete..I am a near 40 year old father of three that breaks a sweat a few hours every week on my two-wheeled stress reliever.  The hills at the beginning are going to hurt me.  I weigh close to 250 lbs (much less than 3 months ago I might add), and sticking with my endurance athlete brother-in-law is going to be like a sloth running down a gazelle.  But, I will find the strength to make my way up the mountain.

After all, isn't that what we do every day?  Living a Christian life is not always easy in today's society.  Sometimes it is hard to see God's plan in our vocation or the monotony of an ordinary day.  But, like the verse says we have to have hope in the Lord.  He is with us in every moment of every endeavor, no matter how big or how small.  Recently I read a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer that really struck me as relevant, "We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts."  So, I have this task of conquering some mountainous terrain ahead of me, but what I need to realize that when I call for God to strengthen me on the uphill climb, he is wanting me to make that call everyday, even the ones that don't seem special.  Because, to Him, everyday we invite Him into our lives is special in its own right.

Sometimes I have these thoughts and I need an outlet for them.  So I hope to chronicle my ups and downs over the next few weeks as I train for the Villainous Viper.  I am looking forward to the challenge and I hope to increase my spiritual strength through this training as well.  Any encouragement you can pass along will be greatly appreciated.

I will end with some training logs for the day (or previous day depending on the schedule):

16 Miles on the Trainer at varied resistance for exactly an hour.  Want to hear something ironic...I love listening to the group Social Distortion when I ride!  It puts my head in the right place for some reason.